Down the Rabbit Hole
by uhmm
Summary: "Why hello there," Ichigo blinked at the petite girl sitting at the head of the table. She stared at him over the rim of her tea cup, lips twitching into a cunning smile and eyes slightly shadowed by her top hat. "Would you care for some tea?" IchiRuki


Down the Rabbit Hole

_Ichigo blinked at the girl sitting at the head of the table. She eyed him over the rim of her tea cup, and he could see her lips twitching into a small, cunning smile. "Why hello," she called, face half-shadowed by her top hat as she set her cup down, "Would you care for some tea?"_

_Alice in Wonderland AU, IchiRuki_

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Prologue: The Green and White Caterpillar

The graveyard in which Ichigo's mother was buried was a relatively humble one compared to most. It was more a garden for the dead than it was a graveyard, with rose bushes growing by the bordering fences and eucalyptus trees towering over; bright flowers smiled and (in the spring and the summer) little butterflies flitted from one headstone to another.

It was in this garden, on an early afternoon in July, that Ichigo found himself. The sun couldn't have been shining brighter – tall fox gloves and forget-me-nots waved softly among the long grass, pansies smiling and daisies dancing. The pink and purple sweet peas that grew on his mother's grave looked healthy and happy, smiling up at Ichigo's frowning face.

"Hey," Ichigo crouched down in front of the headstone, and brushed the unruly plants away. "How are you? I'm sorry I haven't visited in a while. I just got back from Japan. Remember I said last time?"

Ichigo sighed as he stared at the grey stone: "_Masaki Kurosaki, loving mother, wife and friend: you will forever be in our hearts._" Ten years had passed since her death, and so much had happened within it. He started (and finished) secondary school, his voice broke, and he grew a few feet taller than his nine-year-old self. Then he had applied to study abroad and bought a one-way ticket to Karakura, Japan. This was the first time he'd come back to England since he'd left.

"I've settled down really well there," Ichigo continued, "I've already got a big group of friends. My studies are going great…"

He squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to remember what her smile looked like. It had grown harder and harder over the years to recreate the image in his mind.

"I really miss you," He ran a hand through his messy orange hair, "We all do. I wish you didn't have to leave so soon."

The air was typically humid for an English summer, though the sky didn't look quite right – it was almost too blue, or at least bluer than it normally is. Like, aqua marine, with pristine white smudges wiped across it. If anything, it looked like a child's painting, hung up in place of the actual thing.

"Strange," Ichigo muttered under his breath, "The colours seem extra bright today..."

"You do realise you're talking to yourself?"

Ichigo's head whipped round to the source of the voice. Alas, nothing was there, just a small green and white caterpillar moving slowly across the top of another person's headstone. Ichigo shook his head: the sun must've been getting to him.

"I'll see you soon, Mum," he dusted his knees as he got up off the ground. He let the sweet peas fall back in front of his mother's name, and smiled sadly up at the sky.

"It really is blue, isn't it," Ichigo said, more to himself than his mother's grave.

"You're doing it again," the voice said, amused, "What's with you and colours, huh?"

That was definitely not in his mind. Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed as he looked for faces in the bushes surrounding him.

"Who's there?" He called. "You shouldn't be listening in on other people's conversations. Especially not in a place like this – it's disrespectful."

"But when you spoke about the colour of the sky… that wasn't directed at your mother!" The voice laughed.

"Where are you?" Ichigo's annoyance flared irritably at the little laugh that echoed around the garden.

The green and white caterpillar's shuffling stopped and it seemed to turn and look at Ichigo right in the eye.

"Over here, of course!" A small foot (one of many, it seemed) waved up at the carrot-top.

"No way," Ichigo laughed, "I'm not falling for that. Show yourself!"

He heard a frustrated sigh, and (after a blink) the caterpillar disappeared from its position on the headstone. Ichigo blinked again, walking towards the stone slowly to look for the little insect. Had a bird swooped down at lightning speed and picked it up? Surely it couldn't have just disappeared like that…

"I'm here," laughed the voice, this time right in his ear.

"_Gah_!"

Ichigo fell to the ground in shock as he turned to look at his left shoulder. The little green and white caterpillar stood on its hind legs, a tiny grin stretched across its face. It had a strange mop of pale blonde hair on top of its head, and, on every tiny foot, was a traditional Japanese wooden clog.

"Don't look so shocked," the insect laughed, "I'm only a talking caterpillar."

"Only!" Ichigo was tempted to flick the thing (which was slowly crawling down his arm) off onto the floor and leave the garden immediately, not before squishing the thing into the ground. "Is this some kind of prank?"

"No prank, my friend," the caterpillar laughed again, "I was just wondering if you'd do me a favour, seeing as you're here."

"… What kind of favour?" Ichigo asked sceptically. The bug sat on his index finger, grinning up at him.

"Just take me over to that rabbit hole?" A strong wind suddenly blew, and two bushes parted to reveal a hole in the earth, shadowed by some trees.

"Uh, okay," Ichigo stepped over roots and other plants, and bent down to look inside the burrow. "This is massive; I could crawl through this thing!"

The caterpillar's laugh sounded once again, but, when Ichigo looked down at his finger, he found that the little insect was no longer there.

"Not crawling, Ichigo," the carrot-top turned to look behind him, just catching the silhouette of a man wearing a white and green hat, "but falling, of course!"

One wooden clog pushed Ichigo forward, and before he could even shout in protest, the young man found himself tumbling down the rabbit hole.

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**Disclaimer: I own neither Bleach nor Alice in Wonderland.**

**A/N: So I decided that I'd put author's notes down at the bottom instead from now on. Usually it's top and bottom, but blergh. **

**So the other day I was babysitting this three year old kid, and I'd just finished reading some Bleach manga (as ya do), before this kid started whining that he wanted to watch Alice in Wonderland, and alas! This fic was born.**

**("**_**Cool story bro, tell it again!**_**")**

**But yeah. Word up to mah homie ****DarknessDrought**** for reading this through for me. You're awesome, gurl x3**

**Before I go, I'm just gonna say that this is not exactly like AiW. I've changed it a lot, ya know? I have kinda mixed Tim Burton, Disney and Lewis Carol elements all together and added my own awesome sauce into the pot. So beware.**

**And before you start saying "**_**but leik, whut ichi is leik british whut**_**,**_** ichi is leik japonase**_**" it's more convenient for me at this point. Besides, AiW is English, so it can just be part of the AU, so blergh. And I really liked the flower garden thing and I couldn't be bothered to look up Japanese flowers that bloom in June because I am lazy. But Ichigo is studying abroad in Japan so that's okay. And at the end of the story it will make sense, okay? **

**Uh, what was I gonna say? Oh yeah, this is just the prologue. Actual chapters will be longer dudes/dudettes. I aim for at least 1000+ words anyway, so… *shrugs* ****And this is IchiRuki, btw. But we won't meet Rukia 'til at least… well, stick around and you'll see! ;D**

**Please review! It only takes like, five seconds. And if you're new to ffnet and you don't have an account, you can still review without having to sign up (I have anon reviews activated, ahoyhoy, I'm such a cool kid)! **

**Cheers dudes!**


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